Saturday, October 24, 2009

flying saucer.


Or flan.
Since our Argentina trip, I've been really wanting to try to make flan. Figured it would be a nice finish for the special birthday meal I've been planning for the man!
I do agree with some of the comments on this recipe from Epicurious, it is very much like a custard.

But we didn't mind. No, not at all.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

home group bake off, brownie edition.

I'm not usually much of a brownie baker. I don't eat 'em and the man's face falls when he hears I'm making brownies and not the blondies his mom makes for him...

That to say, this recipe from newly discovered baking/fashion blog Slow Like Honey looked enticing enough to try on home groupers this week. They are made with chopped 70% semi-sweet chocolate and came out super moist with a nice little crust on top.


We'll see if they go over well. If not, I'm going back to the stove top popped popcorn and bag of Twizzlers I served last week.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

glazed pumpkin cookies



Continuing with the "pretending it is fall" theme, I made some glazed pumpkin cookies. If I were cooler, they would have been made with fresh pumpkin instead of canned, but....

Here's the recipe, personalized from one I found on allrecipes.com

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh ground cloves
1 tablespoon molasses
pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk, plus extra
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (I only baked for 12, then left on the sheet for an extra 2) in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Please serve with hot chocolate.

I think next time I'd like to try this recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies!